Tuesday, January 29, 2013

We've Created a Monster

For anyone that truly knows me, it's no secret that I love my dog. He's my first born, but this fur child is spoiled naughty rotten, y'all! I've always joked that Wrigley is a real boy, much like Pinocchio. After the last few weeks, I'm convinced that he really is a real boy and one morning I'm going to wake to find a 10 year old kid with brown curls and huge brown eyes staring at me.

Thanks to Wrigley's spoiled rotten nighttime ritual, our boy must do the following before he settles in for the night (if he settles, that is):
  • Get his nightly serving of Carmex from both mom and dad. Yep, our dog is obsessed with Carmex, as in chap stick. He will seriously dive bomb your face to get to the stuff.
  • Lay right in between our faces while we recap the day before the light go out.
  • Spend his first few minutes sprawled out on our pillows. This newly wed doesn't fight with her hubby for pillow or bed space, I fight for it with my 10 lb. toy poodle.
  • And lastly, his newest obsession...his nighttime water drink from the night stand.
    • We now have to fill up 3, yes three, water glasses before bedtime, because apparently our little diva gets thirsty about 2-4 times a night now.
    • If he wakes up thirsty, he will literally stand on my legs or chest until I wake up, grab his drink, hold it at the perfect angle so that he can take his 15-30 licks, all without spilling water on my side of the bed. What is wrong with this picture?
What started out as a cute joke one night has now begun to cost me precious sleep time every single night. Check out the diva in action below. *Disclaimer, he only drinks out of his own glass. I love him to pieces, but I will NOT share a drinking glass with my dog.

Monday, January 28, 2013

My Soap Box

People are mean. No, really. Like 110% mean sometimes and I do not like it.

The hubs and I had a chance to enter a contest to rename the local pro baseball team in our hometown, so we thought "hey, why not? What do we have to lose?" So we jotted down about 5 names and sent them on their merry way, not really thinking too much about them again.

Fast forward 2 weeks. I receive an email from the GM of the team congratulating us on our win. What?! One of our brainchildren was actually chosen?! Very cool! We high fived, fist bumped, laughed for a bit, and were actually pretty proud of ourselves. We were also excited to win the 25 tickets and other prizes that ensued.

Fast forward another 24 hours. I literally want to cry or crawl under a rock or crawl under a rock while crying. Everyone in town apparently hates the name. Seriously. Like they hate it so much that some of the online feedback has read something like this:
"Worst. Name. Ever."
"Idiots. So stupid."
"Rockford Criminals would've been more appropriate." (Okay, this guy is clearly just a jerk anyway!)

I still stand by our name entry of the Rockford Aviators. I think it's strong, cool and shines some much needed positive light on a great industry in our community when we could use some positivity. Our aviation manufacturers supply jobs, lots of jobs, to our area and that's a GREAT thing.

What this has taught me though, is that people are mean. People speak without thinking about a person being on the other side of a name change, an idea, and really everything. Think before you blast something new. And if you don't like it, well maybe you should've come up with something cooler. And, no, the Rockford Criminals is not cooler nor is it a legit name.

Right about now, I'm thinking the Rockford Meanies would've been a good suggestion.

Oh well. What can you do? As I step down off of my soap box this morning, I leave you with this...
Go Rockford Aviators! I think you sound fantastic!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Big Pun + Blogging= Purchased

Y'all are about to be super jelly, as the kids say these days.

All you bloggers out there, don't be jealous of my new duds. Just mosey on out and get you a fresh tee like I just did with my birthday $$.

Cuz that's how us gangsters roll. We save up our birthday dollas for t-shirts.

No gold chainz and grillz. Just straight cotton tees, playaz.

Blogging like a Boss. That's the only way we know.



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

How You Know You No Longer Live at the Beach


Although many things have changed for me since leaving God's country, aka Charleston, SC, I do have to giggle at a few of my daily reminders that I have drastically gone from beach bum to snow bunny. Brrrrrrrr.

  1. I've traded in all my cute coats for a big, black puffer coat. No exceptions. Even on NYE when I'm dressed up. Michelin man is the new black.
  2. The inside of my nose freezes within seconds of stepping outside. Nose-hair-sickles are nasty, but sadly, just another part of life in glorious IL.
  3. I'm tempted to wear socks in my heels. No joke. If this occurs, it may be time for a beach intervention. As in, get me to the nearest ocean pronto burger. Or, I desperatly need the 80's to make a comeback so I can rock my warm slouch socks inside of my black pumps. Come on, Carrie Diaries!
  4. I want to punch in the throat (gracefully, of course) anyone on FB who posts photos of their car thermometers that read above 32 degrees. 32 degrees is when crap freezes. True story, look it up. Therefore, you are NOT freezing at 41 degrees. Chilly seems more appropriate and less offensive to those of us soaking in the 2 degree sunshine. 
  5. I have to watch my every step thanks to black ice. What is black ice, my southern friends may ask? Ice that you cannot see until your booty or your eye is black from eating it. I look like a baby deer trying to stagger make my way to the office.
  6. I must sleep with a humidifier about 2 feet from my face every night to avoid the following beauty disasters: cracked and bleeding hands, bloody noses, cracked lips...are you sensing a cracking pattern here?
  7. Heat waves occurs anytime we get above 40 degrees. I kid you not. The other day it was 41 degrees and I caught myself thinking "do I really need a coat?" Yes, I need a stinkin coat! However, I did open the sunroof while wearing said coat and it was glorious. Fresh air and only a slight chill in the air. For a second, I swear it felt like summer was right around the corner (I'm 110% lying here). Summer is dead and never coming back.
Alright everyone, don't all move here at once! I know it's super tempting, but pace yourselves. Stampeding across black ice will not end well. Trust me.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I'm Not Trashy, But I Do Feel Like Garbage

I'm going to randomly vent for a skinny minute here, but please know that I know that I'm the only one to blame here. Well, me and winter to be exact. We're apparently a deadly combination.

Do you ever just feel like garbage? I feel g-ross lately and I know the answer is an obvious one. I need to work out and be healthier. End of story. The catch...I loathe working out. Which is both ironic and comical seeing as how my Bachelor's degree is in Health Promotion and Physical Education. #Fail  On top of that irony, I was also a competitive figure skater and college cheerleader spending the majority of my life training in a rink or gym or running miles upon miles in 90 degree weather in the south to appease our cheer coach. #Epicfail

Lately all I want to do is sleep and eat cake and sleep some more. I feel anxious every single morning when my alarm goes off and I have to literally roll my lazy self out of bed and into the coldness of winter. It's just so warm in my bed and my sweat pants and my slippers and anything that doesn't resemble professional attire.

I'm pale and pasty and regardless of the threat of sun damage and skin cancer, pasty will never be the new tan. Like ever. I glow in the dark versus having a sun kissed glow. Ugh.

I feel nauseous much of the time which in turn makes me want to crawl under a blanket, after I eat some cake of course.

I need a change. I need some energy. And I need a tan. Stat. In that order.

Anyone else feel like garbage lately?

Now where did I hide that last piece of cake?

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A Happy Bachelor Birthday to Me!

I do not know what it is about this show that makes me love it so much. Even during the seasons when I had less than minimal interest in the lead person and swore off the season...for at least 24 hours until I caved and watched anyway, I've stayed a die hard fan. Plain and simple. And what's even better than that, you ask? My hubby is ALSO a huge fan himself. Has been for years, which in turn makes him even more attractive to me.

All day yesterday my coworkers would pop in to see what major plans I had lined up for the big Bday, and when I relayed in a giddy voice that my night would include take-out, cake (yellow cake with butter cream frosting only), wine, my hubby and my coveted 2 hours of Bachelor bliss, I'm not sure they truly bought into just how perfect my night would be for this girl.

Sweatpants abounded and the comments and wise cracks flowed more freely than the wine. A few different times throughout the night I had to remind the hubby to be nice with his words, but my favorite comment from my own man of the hour went a little like this...

Me: "Sean is just so nice. I just don't know if he'll be able to kick anyone off this season."
Hubby: "Well, he clearly didn't have a problem letting Sheena Easton go home."

True dat, my man. I was actually quite proud of the hubb's connection between Katie and Sheena Easton. He's a witty one and apparently up on which hairstyles may or may not give Sean the edge he needs to allow some of these girls to go home. Who will be next??? I'm hoping it's not Lesley M. or Sarah. My verdict is still out on the rest, as many seem to have split personalities already (not a good sign when you're only 2 episodes deep), but I cannot wait to watch the journey unfold!

And just a little bit of Bachelor trivia for you, I actually nominated my now hubby to be one of the bachelors for a Bachelorette season years ago when we were just friends. Whew, that move could've been a big mistake for my future. Big. Huge.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Birthday Wisdom

As I tie a pretty ribbon around my 33rd year (seriously, how am I 34 already??!!), I always try to spend a few moments reflecting on what the previous year taught and brought me wisdom wise. Without further ado...

Some things really are worth waiting for. Sometimes you'll wait longer than you think for things you will and you will know when the time is right. The Lord's timing is ALWAYS right. Career moves are hard. Working in the same place for almost 10 years is something to admire in our fast paced, ever changing world, but it can also be challenging when you move on and become the newbie somewhere else. Being the new person is hard. Pod units containing all of your earthly possessions don't always arrive as guaranteed so plan accordingly. Moving into someone else's home is an experience that requires patience, understanding, respect of someone else's space and routine (on both sides), and lots of wine and Kleenex. Marriage is incredibly amazing. Marriage is incredibly challenging. Marriage is worth the challenge. Patience is a virtue. I do not possess said virtue. Wedding planning can be the most stressful and yet fun time in your life. Don't sweat the small wedding stuff, but instead make the small stuff where you and husband can be found during that special day. Details can be the best part of any day, especially your wedding day. People still carry their brides across the threshold. My husband carried me while I carried our sweet dog. Moments like that are priceless, even at 3:00 am after driving for 17 hours to your new home together. I watch too much MTV crap TV. I watch too much crap TV in general. I'm obsessed with the Property Brothers. Cooking makes the swirl in brain stop for a moment. Blogging makes the same swirl stop. You can go home, unlike the song lyrics say. Family is a gift. Cherish that gift. Illinois winters aren't as bad as I thought they'd be after 16 years at the beach. Today is the coldest day we've had this winter, Happy Birthday to me. I'm more coordinated on ice skates than I am in heels during an Illinois winter. I miss the beach and my church and my friends every day. I've loved the creation process of new friendships here. I think my Charleston friends and my Rockford friends would all be friends if location wasn't an issue. The time of night when we turn the TV off and chat and laugh as a small family of 3 is my favorite entertainment of the day. My husband's laugh, like his REAL belly laugh, makes me laugh until I cry. You can leave the south, but the south doesn't leave you. It's in your blood and in your heart. Forever.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Life Lessons from The Bachelor


As an avid Bachelor fan, do I truly believe that one can find real and lasting love through ABC's relationship experiement of a show...probably not so much based on their track record (but I'm still optimistic!).

What I can tell you that I believe, without a doubt, is that there are many a good life lessons to be learned within the 2 hour whirlwind of drama, dates, and quite frankly, some very attractive hot messes.

Life lesson #1- Please remember that people are watching. At all times. Including your mother.
After over a decade of watching this franchise, I'm still amazed at the things people say and do during their 15 minutes of fame. Would you ever pull a silk necktie out of your formal gown within the first 2 minutes of a real date? If you answered yes to that question, I can in return answer your question as to why you're still single. Because you're riding the crazy train and 95% of America is afraid of you. Period. WE'RE ALL meeting you through this show, and although we don't mean to, we're also judging your words and actions throughout the process. Show us and your future man a little class. Trust me, it'll go a loooonnggg way. Your mother will thank you as well, along with your possible future mother in law who will have to justify your actions at future family gatherings.

Life lesson #2- Know your audience.
If anyone watched Sean last season or if they've seen anything about him in the media leading up to this season, you'd know he's a family man who loves the Lord (Amen, Sean!). If you don't know those two fundamental things about the man that you claim to love from the get go, well then you may want to spend some more time doing your research instead of planning your LA wardrobe and hitting the gym. Wiping out all of your "50 Shades" knowledge is probably going to lead Sean to pray for you more so than leading you to that coveted rose. Do your research; know your audience. And stop creeping the rest of us out! If I had a dollar for everytime I said "who does that?" outloud while watching this show, I'd probably be able to fly to Fiji with the Chris Harrison.

Life lesson #3- Drunk looks good on no one. Ever.
I like my wine like anyone else, however a little water goes a long way. If this is the moment you've been waiting and praying for, auditioning  and planning for, maybe step away from the free booze for one night. ITS JUST ONE NIGHT. If you can drink responsibly, then go ahead and get you one of those delicious mojitos to loosen up a bit, but I assure you that no one, Sean included, has anxiously awaited finding true love in the girl who is the reigning champion of "flip cup" or "beer pong" at every party they attend. This is your big break, please hydrate for the love of all things. Say it with me "water then wine, water then wine, water, a little more water, and then a glass of wine".

Life lesson #4- Less really is more.
This lesson is really the most wide reaching of them all. Less can be so much more when it comes to: tanning (both via bed and via spray), showing skin, talking about yourself, talking about other people, booty dancing when no one else is dancing and without actual musical accompaniment, hair extensions, and make-up. More is more and I don't have to be a rocket scientist to recognize that truth. Especially with a large screen HD viewing. Yikes.

Life lesson #5- When meeting someone for the first time, be yourself. Gimmicks come off as just that, gimmicky.
Don't sing and dance to get someone's attention or approval. Just be you and if they don't like you for being you, they certainly don't want to hear you sing. We're all beautiful in our own way and we all have something to offer this world. Don't hide behind cheesiness, let your light shine au natural! Can you imagine if everyone constantly had to walk around like tap-dancing clowns to prove their worth and creativity through song and dance and acrobatics all day long? I'd never leave the house. It'd be exhausting, irritating and awkward. Much like the opening limo encounters of this show. I kid you not, I literally hide behind a pillow a few times every season because I want the scene to end. Pronto.

Life lesson #6- Too many women in one place is too many.
During seasons of the Bachelorette, I LOVE watching the house scenes when it's just a bunch of dudes chilling. The guys are funny, active, and often times simply jovial. That same house full of women ALWAYS sends someone to the hospital. We're an amazing gender with so much beauty, strenght, wisdon, and HORMONES. Too many of us in one space is never good. Someone is going to lose an eye and their dignity in one swoop.

ABC and The Bachelor, thank you for your creative masterpiece, along with a few life
lessons over the years. You certainly are the most dramatic show ever.

And for that I'd give you a rose every day of the week!

Monday, January 7, 2013

My Hubby Rocks




I've always known I was a lucky girl when it comes to many, many things in life. When it comes to my hubby, that same luck rings true.

Although, like any other wife person, I'm often the hardest on those that I love the most. I'm not proud of it, but I'm aware of it and working on it. Why do we this? I guess because we can be tough on them, we can say things to them that we shouldn't or wouldn't dream of saying to a stranger/coworker/friend for fear of being punched in the throat or being unfriended on Facebook, as they're just always supposed to love us by design, right? Our families and hubbies sort of have to love us in spite of our short coming, mood swings, and un-loveliness at times, or so we think. But when they can love us through those moments, well, then we should sing their praises from the mountain tops. Or at the very least, blog about 'em. Duh.

So here it is, the top 5 reasons my husband rocks (even when I don't, Bless his heart!):
  • He makes my coffee every weekday morning. Really. Every day I awake to my Tervis tumbler warmly cradling my low-fat milk, 2 splenda coffee. Delish. But what about the days when we run out of coffee like today, you ask? Well, he thoughtfully leaves said Tervis tumbler out with a fresh K-cup and 2 splendas stacked on top so that I just have to throw in the little pod and viola! Hot coffee in seconds.
  • He fills my humidifier tank with water on the sly (although I did bust him on accident when he was quietly filling it the other night. He looked like a kid who got caught doing something horribly wrong. Fill on, my brotha! I didn't see a thaaannng!) I don't know why, but I despise filling that tank all the time. Well the hubs caught on and started to fill it at random times for me. Ahhh, it's the simple things.
  • He randomly fills my gas tank. Are you sensing a pattern here? I apparently hate filling things. Who knew? Every once in awhile, I'll hop in the car and there it is...a full tank of gas. Hallelujah!
  • He takes the Pig out in the middle of the night, almost every night, even when it's FREEZING. And that right there, folks, is what a keeper looks like! He knows that I'm afraid of the larger wildlife in our yard, granted only at night when coyotes might be out, so when the Piggy needs to go outside in the middle of the night, the hubs is the one to do it. Bless him again.
  • He does 90% of our laundry every week and I never had to ask. Don't get me wrong, we hit a few bumps in the road as he learned the hard way  which of my things he couldn't dry or that I never wash my clothes in hot water or everything shrinks, but he washes, dries, hangs, and folds. It rocks. And therefore, consider this blog my mountain and these words my song!

Thanks to my hubby for everything you see in this post and so much more. He's the bomb.com and I am a lucky girl. Now if only I could teach him how to paint my nails.....JUST KIDDING, babe!!! I'll settle for the rights to watch the Bachelor premier on the College Football Championship game night;) That's right, udda man!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

2013- Ready or Not!

I've never really been one to make New Year resolutions, mostly because when I have, they've never seemed to stick. However with 2013 upon us, and with the amazing year of 2012 now behind us and cheering me on, I figured "why not?"!

Please keep in mind that although I am an optimist, I'm also very much a realist, so you will not find anything ridiculous on my list like run a half marathon (sorry, handsome hubby, that one is still 110% your deal!) or hike the Appalachian Trail, swim with sharks, etc...

2013, I hope to share with you the following goals/moments/milestones:
  • Continue working on Simply Vintage and giving it our best shot at success with our first Bridal Expo in 2 weeks (eeekkkk!)
  • Stop joking about how out of shape I am and get healthier. I literally worked out once between June 1st and Dec. 31st and that is just sad and gross. So, without further ado, I kicked off a new workout plan last night. In my own kitchen. While Wrigley stared in utter confusion. Which means I am sore today. But, hey, at least it's one day down and I followed through on my goal of starting it Jan. 2nd. Booyah!
  • Continue developing my recent passion for cooking new and tasty meals for my hubby. I shared with the hubby last night that when my life was turned upside down with the move 1,000 miles away from my home and then our home being turned upside down with repairs, cooking became one of the few things that made sense as a new wife. I could find a recipe, follow the instructions and boom- we'd have a great meal together amongst the other chaos. Cooking made sense when other things didn't.
    • Plus it's nice to know that I have a hubby who never goes without a warm and usually tasty dinner after he works so hard to provide for the Pig and me. He claims he's packed on some lbs. from my new hobby though. Oops!
  • Continue my love of reading. I consider myself lucky to be someone who gets totally lost in movies and books, so much so that once either one is over, the story lines and characters aren't done in my head. There's nothing better than getting lost in another world through a good book and I plan to keep that up in 2013. Any awesome book suggestions out there?
  • Start a family.
  • Find my volunteer niche in my new community, while still being involved in my old one through Cinderella Day 2013.
  • Find a married couples small group/Bible study that suits both the hubby and myself. If you're not growing, you're dying, so we better get on the growing in our new church. We've got things to learn, friends to make, and Lord to love!
What does 2013 have in store for you? Let's make this year our best one yet!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Homemade Christmas

Per a previous post about what I quite frankly ain't got time for around the holidays, I thought I'd share with you a few projects that I did find the time to tackle. And to be honest with you, they were some of my favorite holiday touches this year, although I do think my hubby might worry that he married one of Santa's elves due to the level of excitement I reached upon their completion, and how for a few days our home slightly resembled santa's workshop.

Project 1- A Vintage Button Reindeer-
Thanks to good ole Pinterest, I stumbled across a button reindeer and knew in that moment that I simply had to have it! So on Thanksgiving day, after our amazing meal, my grandma, aunt, my mom and I all sat around the table and sorted through my grandma's button collection. That hour or so might very well be my favorite part of this project. It was fun just to sit and chat while sorting through about 40 years of buttons.

Once I had the buttons, the challenging part was fitting them all together to resemble a reindeer. After only a few hot glue burns, some burlap for the matte and bow, a vintage frame for $7, my "button buck" as one cousin called him, was complete. And I just love her mismatched self!




Project 2- Mason Jar (Waterless) Snow Globes-
After spotting a few of these mason globes, with mark-up prices of $15-20 a pop, I decided that it wouldn't be impossible to make my own for WAY less. Seeing as how I'm already a mason jar hoarder collector, I stopped by one of my favorite antique spots to hunt down mini trees and props, grabbed some fake snow and busted out the ole glue gun once more. The fun part of these guys was creating each scene itself. I was so proud of my "noel" bunting too, since it was so teeny tiny and anything tiny is oh so fun, especially when you make it yourself. Some trees got ornaments, while others just collected a few snow flakes for that still in the woods kind of feel. In the end, I yet again, love my project results and I hope you do too!



Project 3- Felt Animal Dolls-
After inheriting a niece through marriage, I wanted to try and start a tradition of making her something special and girlie every Christmas versus just running out and purchasing something off of the shelf. So to kick-off this tradition, I decided to try my hand at felt animals with a sassy little wardrobe. I was super pumped with how they turned out seeing as how I didn't have a pattern to follow and I am NO artist.

I had so much fun designing their outfits, with some of my favorite touches being black heels (every felt piggy needs a pair of black heels, duh), pink bikini for the beach, a tutu and matching glitter bow, an 80's-ish over sized t-shirt dress and headband, and a yellow hat with a black feather touch for those days when the frog might need to catch a train to California in her black and white summer dress set. Can you tell I day dreamed about where the animals might wear their new wardrobe?! After it was complete and my chest was swollen with amateur pride, I signed the back for her our names and Christmas 2012 and wrapped up my little handmade memento. I'm not 100% she loved it as much as I did, maybe due to her only being 4, but I'm hoping she'll sit down with it someday and give it a whirl. It'd be a shame for that piggy to never get to be the ballerina that I envisioned;)





All in all, I'm so pleased with the projects that I did lend my time to and I've learned that with every homemade project that you complete, you leave your thumbprint on that item and you just can't find that in a store. There's something special about creating something from scratch and watching it unfold before your very eyes. It's priceless.